Agreed; nice try with the shopping for a decent team, **** LA! Woo-Hoo now they have a druggie superstar and a skipper with a cancerous prostate that is likely to drop out like a dirty wet pink sock at any time, Oh me oh my what a wonderful day.

In all fairness; I did just hear on sportscenter that it wasn't for steriods it was a banned substance that was in a medication prescribed by his doctor; whatever the suspension is warranted and quite welcome :yes:

LOS ANGELES -- Major League Baseball suspended Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez for 50 games on Thursday for use of performance enhancing drugs.

Major League Baseball made an official announcement shortly after noon ET.

Ramirez, who turns 37 on May 30, will begin the suspension with Thursday night's Dodgers-Nationals game. He would be eligible to return around July 3, depending on rainouts.

Ramirez -- an 12-time All-Star who immediately became the face of the Dodgers franchise upon his acquisition last summer -- is the biggest name player to be issued a 50-game suspension under the MLB's more stringent drug policy that was adopted in 2006.

According to the drug policy, a player receives a 50-game suspension for a first positive drug test, a 100-game suspension for a second positive test and a lifetime ban for a third positive test. The suspensions are without pay.

Ramirez re-signed with the Dodgers as a free agent this spring to a two-year contract that was to pay him $25 million.

Ramirez has been a key component in leading the Dodgers to the best record in baseball this year. In 27 games, he is batting .348 with six home runs and 20 RBIs. He is among league leaders in slugging and on-base percentage and has become the biggest drawing card the Dodgers have had since Fernando Valenzuela, even recently having a portion of the left-field box seats rechristened "Mannywood."
Juan Pierre would be the immediate replacement for Ramirez in left field, while the Dodgers are expected to promote rookie Xavier Paul from Triple-A Albuqueruque to replace Ramirez on the active roster.

Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

If you guys can go at least .500 over the next 50 games then yeah I agree you should still take the division; and proceed to do nothing with it. Guess you guys need to go shopping again; LA is far from being ready to take Philly out.

Dodgers were off to a great start but talk about taking the wind out of the sails; ouch; Manny never fails.

Ramirez attributed the test results to medication received from a doctor or personal medical physician.

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.

"I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

The suspension hurts, but at least now we know that Manny wasn't taking steriods for performance-enhancing purposes.

Just an unfortunate mistake like Shawne Merriman. We'll be able to move on and overcome it just like the Chargers did.

If you guys can go at least .500 over the next 50 games then yeah I agree you should still take the division; and proceed to do nothing with it. Guess you guys need to go shopping again; LA is far from being ready to take Philly out.

Dodgers were off to a great start but talk about taking the wind out of the sails; ouch; Manny never fails.

LOS ANGELES – A source close to Manny Ramirez(notes) said Thursday that the illegal substance for which the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger tested positive was not “an agent customarily used for performance enhancing.”

At least not on the baseball diamond. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the drug was prescribed to address Ramirez’s erectile dysfunction.

So he's either a bad liar, a cheater, or the biggest fuggin moron in sports for not having the drug checked out prior to use, or a combination of the three.

Click to expand...

Werd.

If I was making a zillion dollars a year, you could be DAMN SURE I would know what my doctor is giving me.

If I was a Dodger or a Dodger fan, I would be fuggin PISSED.

And so it begins! The Dodgers lose to the freaking pathetic NATIONALS(8-18), which is their first loss at home for the season.
This is the first game without Manny in the lineup:

05/08/09 1:46 AM ETLate surge rallies Nats past Dodgers

Kearns, Johnson hit two-run doubles in six-run eighth inning

By Bill Ladson / MLB.com

LOS ANGELES -- The Nationals came back from a six-run deficit to defeat the Dodgers, 11-8, at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night.
It looked like the Nationals were in for a long night.

Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann started the game for Washington and had serious problems in the first inning. After striking out leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal, Zimmermann couldn't get the next six hitters out. The first run scored on an RBI single by James Loney. Four batters later, Matt Kemp took Zimmermann's 0-1 pitch and hit a grand slam over the right-center-field fence.

Casey Blake followed and hit what looked like a routine fly ball to right-center field, but center fielder Elijah Dukes and right fielder Adam Dunn did not communicate on who was catching the ball, which dropped in for a triple. Blake then scored on a sacrifice fly by Dodgers starter Randy Wolf.

After that, Zimmermann retired the next nine hitters he faced. He went on to pitch six innings and give up the six runs.

Wolf was better on the mound, throwing six innings, while giving up one run on a Josh Willingham homer in the sixth inning.

The Nationals scored nine more runs against the Dodgers' bullpen. In the seventh inning, Washington scored three runs. The biggest blow came when Dunn took a Will Ohman pitch and doubled down the right-field line to bring home two runs.

An inning later, the Nationals batted around and scored a combined six runs off Cory Wade and Brent Leach. With Wade on the mound, pinch-hitter Austin Kearns hit a two-run double over the head of Kemp in center field.
Leach was on the mound when Nick Johnson doubled near the left-field line to score Anderson Hernandez and Kearns. Dunn and Dukes also had RBI hits in the inning.

It seems like an obvious cop out to me that only Dodgers fan apologists will buy.

But you gotta love the irony, considering the number of Dodgers fans (Padres fans as well, but that's besides the point) who were willing to throw Bonds under the bus for steroid use before he ever tested positive.

LOS ANGELES – A source close to Manny Ramirez(notes) said Thursday that the illegal substance for which the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger tested positive was not “an agent customarily used for performance enhancing.”

At least not on the baseball diamond. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the drug was prescribed to address Ramirez’s erectile dysfunction.